The Slackers Guide to Physics:

Electricity and Magnetism

Yosun Chang
October 20, 2003

Contents
1 An Introduction to The Slackers Guide to Physics
2 Mathematics (of the very helpful kind) in a Nutshell
2.1 Flavors of Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.1 Partial Derivatives: The Art of Ignoring . . . .
2.1.2 The Del Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2 Too Lazy to Read the Previous Section . . . . . . . . .
2.3 Misc. Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.1 Moving the Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.2 Rotating the Coordinate System . . . . . . . . .
2.3.3 Spherical Coordinates are Soooo Sexy! . . . . .
2.3.4 Cylindrical Coordinates!!! . . . . . . . . . . . .

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3 The Electrostatics Introduction

13

4 Electrostatics
4.1 Gauss Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.1 Illumination from a Point Charge . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.2 Multiple Charges and Electric Flux! . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.3 Sphere 0: Uniformly Distributed Surface Charge . . .
4.1.4 Sphere 1: Non-uniformly Distributed Surface Charge
4.1.5 Sphere 2: Uniformly Distributed Volume Charge . . .
4.1.6 Sphere 3: Non-uniformly Distributed Volume Charge
4.1.7 Cylinders! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.8 A Plain OlInfinite Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.9 Conductors and Insulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2 Too Lazy to Read All That About Gauss Law . . . . . . . .
4.3 Continuous Charge Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.1 The Skinny Line Charges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.4 Potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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5 The Magnetism Introduction

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26

CONTENTS

6 Magnetostatics
6.1 The Right Hand Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.1 For Currents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.2 For the Hermit Charge . . . . . . . . . .
6.2 Amperes Law:
The Gauss Law of Magnetism . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.1 That Proverbial Infinite Line of Current
6.2.2 Current Distributions . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.3 The Fat Arse Infinite Line Current . . .
A Appendix 1
A.1 Components:
Breaking Up the Multidimensional . .
A.1.1 Conquering the Trig . . . . . .
A.1.2 Facing the Components . . . .
A.1.3 Components on Inclined Planes

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34
35
36
36

Chapter 1
An Introduction to The Slackers
Guide to Physics
The idea behind this series is basically encoded in the Slackers Oath: I shall
always take the path of least action whenever possible. In other words, this book
is the text-embodiment of the least action - least amount of time spent, energy
wasted, etc. - one has to take towards acing this particular academic subject.
I believe that the method of learning promoted by this series - that one should
learn certain highly procedure- based methods before attempting to understand
the material - would allow the following:
A heightened ability to tackle the traditional problems that fetter many
students
Learning that is directly related to acing the bulk of (most) examinations
Intimate relationships with some cute (and possibly sexy) equations
Each volume will begin from near-scratch. For example, the E and M volume
assumes only that youve taken (or know the bare basics of) single-variable calculus. Although it is highly recommended that students take multivariable calculus
before E and M, there are only a few dragons that cant be slayed without. The
Math-in-a-Nutshell section should be a sufficient excuse to not let math screw
over your physics grade (aside from arithmetic errors and that sort). Also, in
case you find me too pendantic in some sections, there will occassionally be too
lazy to read the previous section chapters that succinctly summarize the main
details.1
Although the word slacker implies that youd spend your term doing more
playing than studying, I cannot promise you an A in your course if you read
1

Please try to read as much as you can, though. And send me comments (yosun@nusoy.com)
whenever Im unclear or anything, as this is a pre-print. If you want more incentive, I guess
Ill put you on my credits page if your comments are good enough. =P

3
only just this. Reading this will provide you with an alternate and possibly more
illuminating method of preparing for examinations and quizzes. However, because this text is focused more on quantitative problems, rather than qualitative
methods (although many qualitative characteristics are often derived, or can be
taken, from some fundamental quantitative bases), it is a good idea to try to pay
attention in lectures and all that (and maybe even occassionally read your main
textbook, say on the toilet, perhaps).
Your Slacker Guru

Chapter 2
Mathematics (of the very helpful
kind) in a Nutshell
2.1

Flavors of Derivatives

Once upon a time in algebra, you learned that the slope was defined as rise over
run. If youre given the equation of a straight line, say, y = 3x + 4, you were
supposed to use the formula y = mx + b, match coefficients, and find that m = 3,
therefore, the slope is 3 (because m is defined as the slope). If you were given an
equation of a decent parabola, say, y = x2 + 3x + 4, and asked to find the slope,
you were supposed to shrivel up into a fetal shape and cry.
Back then, you werent supposed to know that there were two ways to find
the slope. There was just that one formula, and it only worked for straight lines.
Only that and nothing else.
So anyway, along comes calculus and the concept of the derivative, a general
way to find slopes. By using a simple power rule, you can easily find the slope of
parabolas, cubics, 4-power thingies, and so much more. But, apparently, curves
have changing slopes. Thus, you needed the idea of the instantaneous slope.
Thats actually precisely why derivatives are useful. They generate an equation
that defines the slope of the original line/curve at any point.
This section of the book will prep you up on the derivatives required for your
E and M course. Itll start with a brief review of partial derivatives, and then
itll plunge into the del operator, which is more or less a shortcut for taking
derivatives in three dimensions. DO NOT LET FEAR STOP YOU!!! Chances
are, much of the del stuff will become more clear as you proceed onwards with
the book.
Its best to get rid of your calculus phobia now, before its too late. Your
physics exams and quizzes will very likely involve some bit of calculus. Thats
not too bad, basically because you wouldnt want to do it without calculus,
anyway. (There are certain things better done in calculus than via algebra.)

2.1 Flavors of Derivatives

2.1.1

Partial Derivatives: The Art of Ignoring

Lets start with derivatives. Nothing nasty like arc-trig. Rather, lets play with
those yummy power rules.
Recall from Calculus (or The Slackers Guide to Calculus: Single-Variable)
that:
d
dx

x2 = 2x or in general:

d
dx

xn = nx(n1)

Basically, partial derivatives are extensions of the theory of derivatives from

1-Dimensional calc into multiple dimensions. (Well focus mostly on 2D or 3D in
this text.) The trick is that you differentiate only with respect to the variable indicated by the partial derivative (the curly d - think of it as a faux-multidimensional
d) and you ignore the other variables. Thus:

3x5 y 69 z 24 = 15x4 y 69 z 24

Notice that the derivative is taken with respect to x, thus only the x term in
the equation above is derivatized - everything else, all those ugly powers of y
and z stay constant. All the rules for derivatives from the 1-D calc course you
took last term, or some other time in your dark past, work for partials. (Thus,
you can still have those wacky bashes with the ol product rules, chains, and even
hi 0
the one and only: ( ho
) = hodhihidho
.)
hoho
Q. But, O Great Slacker Guru, what does this mean? I mean, its
fun taking mindless power-rule derivatives and all, but... A. When you
take something with respect to x, while ignoring the y and z variables (components, actually), for example, that means youre only finding the slope of the
function in its x component. The derivative with respect for x would (in general)
not apply to the slope for the y and z components.

2.1.2

The Del Operator

The Del operator is a group of partial derivatives. Although it might look scary,
its really just a shorthand for stating derivatives with respect to different coordinate systems. Different coordinate systems are really very cool1 ; they allow
you to specify your position in an objective unambiguous way. Your choice of
coordinate system might make certain problems way easier, as we shall see quite
soon.
Lets take a look at the Cartesian coordinate system first. Its the basic x-y-z
thing youve known for a while.
Suppose you want to take derivatives of a function f (x, y, z) with respect to
x, y, and z. You can do this two ways:
1

see Moving the Origin

2.1 Flavors of Derivatives

The long way: ( x

x
+

y
+

z ) ?f (x, y, z)

The del2 () way:

Define = x
x
+ y
y
+
Thus, you can state everything in the long way as: ? f (x, y, z)

Notice that Ive placed a ? there, which Ill get back to. And then, notice
that Ive introduced three unit vectors3 x
, y
, and
z. (They usually refer to these

unit vectors as i, j, and k, respectively, but its the same meaning, just different
names.) These unit vectors are mutually perpendicular to each other (they
form the axes). They are therefore linearly independent bases4 that span all of
3-space5 ; from a linear combination6 of these, you can construct any other vector
(in 3-space).
Read the footnotes to the last paragraph. Then, memorize the last two sentences. Theyre good for impressing certain people at cocktail parties. Seriously,
you should try this.
Anyway, I put a ? there because of those unit vectors. Vectors are values that
contain both direction and length. In the case of unit vectors, the lengths are
all unitary, i.e., 1. It is only the direction that is of quintessential significance
in these unit vectors. Vectors have direction (aside from the trivial sense of
ordinary numbers that are just negative or positive) because they have multiple
components.
The cartesian vector has three components: the x, y, and z components. Different mixes of values yield different vectors. Multiplying two vectors in different
ways also yield different results. Sometimes vector multiplication commute, and
sometimes, they do not.
There are three ways to multiply vectors:
The first way involves only one vector. You multiply a scalar and a vector
~ and you get A
~
A
The second way is called the dot product. (AKA the scalar product
- the end result of multiplication of these two vectors yields a scalar) You
~ b, c) and B(d,
~ e, f ), in this particular way, to get
multiply the vectors A(a,
~B
~ = (ad + be + cf ) =k A
~ kk B
~ k cos . You get a
their dot product: A
2
Del is not a vector. It acts on vectors and numbers and transforms them according to
its definition as stated above.
3
Unit vectors will be denoted in bold face with hats. Regular vectors will just have arrows
on top of them.
4
They are independent in that you need only a linear combination of - say - the x
and y
,
unit vectors to uniquely describe any vector in the xy-plane.
5
3-space is short for 3D-space
6
A linear combination is just a bunch of vectors each multiplied by some scalar ordinary
number.

2.1 Flavors of Derivatives

scalar from the dot product of two vectors (after multiplying the Ax 7 with
Bx and Ay with By , etc.).
The third way is called the cross product. (AKA the vector product
- the end result of multiplication of these two vectors yields a vector.) You
~ b, c) and B(d,
~ e, f ) to get A
~B
~ = det(
~ B)
~
multiply the vectors A(a,
u, A,
where u
represents the unit vectors. Thus the cross product of A and
B is mutually perpendicular to both and can be calculated in Cartesian
coordinates as this:

 x

 y

~
~
A B =  a b
 d e

z
c
f





=x
(bf ce) y
(af cd) +
z(ae bd)



~ kk B
~ k sin
where the magnitude of this vector is equal to k A
I put the unit vectors in front of the values because a scalar multipled by a
vector commutes, and also, you might find it easier in your calculations in
~ and
the future to write vector products as such. The k cages around
A

~ make scalars out of the two vectors like this: (eg) k A

~ k= a2 + b2 + c2 .
B
~ and B.
~
Theta is the angle between the vectors A
Back to our old . The isnt really a vector, but it has components.
Del doesnt mean anything by itself, but, like vectors, it does not necessarily
commute, hence why i had a ? earlier. So... you can multiply it with another
vector in similar ways:
grad f = f ... Del isnt really a scalar, but f is a scalar, in this case.
Grad makes a vector out of f . Thus: Suppose f = x2 + xy 3 z 4 . The grad
operation would transform that scalar function into a vector function. A
once direction-less lost function would be direction-ized! It would do so
like this: f = (x2 + xy 3 z 4 ) = x
(2x + y 3 z 4 ) + y
(3y 2 xz 4 ) +
z(4z 3 xy 3 ).
Conceptual Meaning: The gradient f points in the direction of maximum increase of the function f .
div f = ~f ... The dot product of del and a vector (del dot ~f ) yields a
~ =< x2 y, xyz, x3 yz 4 >. Then A
~ = (2xy +xz +4z 3 x3 y).
scalar. Suppose A
Conceptual Meaning:
The divergence is a measure of
how much a vector spreads out from a particular point.
7

where Ax represents the x component of A, rather than the derivative of A with respect to
d
, etc.
x. I will always specifically write dx

2.1 Flavors of Derivatives

curl f = ~f ... The cross product of del and a vector (del cross ~f )
~ =< a, b, c >, where a, b, and c are functions of
yields a vector. Suppose A
x, y, and z.

 x


~
A =  x

 a

b
c a
b a
c

)y
(

)+
z(

)
=x
(

y z
x c
x y
c 

Conceptual Meaning: The curl is a measure of how much a vector curls

around a particular point.

Incidentally, the divergence of a curl is zero because if you look at the diagrams
above, you can see that something with only a curl around a point does not have
a divergence at that point.

2.2 Too Lazy to Read the Previous Section

2.2

Too Lazy to Read the Previous Section

OK. You dont really have to understand del just yet. Working through the rest
of the material of the text should give you the same thing. For the time being,
just memorize the following relations and then flip onto the next modicum:
=

x
+

y
+

grad f = f = x
f
+y
f
+
z f
x
y
z
div f~ = ~f =

fx
x

fy
y

fz
z

See Footnote8

curl f~ is as below

 x


~
f =  x

 fx

2.3
2.3.1

fy

c
b
c a
b a

)y
(

)+
z(

)
=x
(

y z
x c
x y

fz

Misc. Tricks
Moving the Origin

You can move your origin anywhere, as long as you are consistent. For example,
suppose I want to find the distance from A to B:
A(5, 4) ; B(5, 10)
I can move the origin to either A or B. Suppose I move it to A. Then:
A(0, 0) ; B(0, 6)
Note that these are two equivalent systems as long as A and B are spaced
(0, 6) apart. Its all relative.
This is an overtly simplified example of why you would want to move your
origin, and I dont blame you for thinking me a total bore for tellng you this.
Anyway, you can easily create your own coordinate system this way. Its all quite
cool.
Oh, also, you can create coordinate systems by redefining your axes. (And, I
guess if youre of the hardcore math type, you would complain that moving the
origin isnt really creating a new coordinate system. But anyway, Im referring
to the pedestrian usage of coord sys.) Suppose you want to create a coordinate
system on the surface of a sphere, for example, then you would want to define
your axes accordingly to simplify the problems on the sphere. Se the next section
for details...
8

note that fx denotes the x component of x, etc.

2.3 Misc. Tricks

2.3.2

10

Rotating the Coordinate System

Ya. So you know you can move the origin. Well, you can rotate your axes too.
See the Inclined Planes subsection in Components earlier in this chapter.

2.3.3

Spherical Coordinates are Soooo Sexy!

Spherical coordinates (SC) may look formidable, if not frightening, but thats
only if you let the explicit usage of various angles get to you. SC is actually quite
sexy, once you get to know it.
You can form two kinds of relationships with SC:
The Shallow-Hal-Wannabe Kind- You memorize the following transformations from your homebase Cartesian coordinate system to spherical
coord sys. This is what SC is; unless youre a math major or taking an
upper div course in science, its really only this and nothing more:
x = r sin cos
y = r sin sin
z = r cos
where (0, ) and (0, 2)
The Meaningful Kind- You get to know who SC is. You have to form
a Shallow Relationship first, though, viz., what is SC? Then, you should
ask yourself: How did SC come to be? (SCs roots and origins are in
Meaningful Projections.) You consider why anyone would bother finding
out how SC came to be and when youll need the sexy entity known as SC.
And finally, once you fully know SC, you can just forget everything above,
except the when part, and just start stalking SC That is, you should know
where SC is at any time (whether on the formulae sheet on your exam or
on the inside cover of your textbook, etc.) But, I warn you, the where-part
might become redundant, eventually, as through constant usage, you may
know SC so well, youll wind up memorizing SC. Thats a pivotal stage you
dont reach in many other relationships; that just goes to show how much
cooler SC is than everything and everyone else.

2.3 Misc. Tricks

11

The above is what SC really looks like. It shows what the x, y, and z values
coorrespond to. Theres also the restriction for (0, ) and (0, 2).
Slackers are oft too lazy and think that the angles go from 0 to 2 in both. Well,
that wont work, because then you would be counting the height twice. Think
of it like this: suppose you wanted to measure your own height, going from 0 to
is like going from head to toe, if you assign your head the value = 0 and your
toes the value = . If you went all the way to 2, you would be counting your
height from head to toe plus your height from toe to head. Therell be trouble
in your caboose!
Thats how SC came to be. SC can be very useful especially when youre
working with spheres. Say, for example, you wanted to find the surface area of a
sphere the hardcore way via multiple integrals. You can tough it out via Cartesian
coordinates, or you can do it the easy way via a coordinate system designed
especially for such problems. (You can find this example in your Calculus book.)
If youre confused at how I got the x,y,z correspondence, maybe youve for-

2.3 Misc. Tricks

12

gotten how to resolve a vector into components. (To wit: How did you solve
those incline plane probs from Mechanics?) Anyway, resolving a vector into components is really just projecting it onto the axes of your choice. Usually, thats
the x and y axes. If you know theta and the hypothenuse, life is good. The x
component would be just h cos while the y component would be h sin ... this
is providing that your angle is adjacent to the x axis. Its the other way around
if its adjacent to the y axis.
The spherical unit vectors are pretty important. For LD, you dont have to
necessarily coorespond them to their x, y, and z parts, but you should conceptually understand one of them: The r component protrudes in the radial direction;
it will always be pointing away from the origin in a sphere.
Incidentally, the spherical surface element da (where a is a vector normal to
the surface) can be constructured from a multiplicative mix of any two of the

below.

2.3.4

Cylindrical Coordinates!!!

Chapter 3
The Electrostatics Introduction
The reason why they have electromagnetic theory is basically to solve problems
involving charges; the reason why you have to take this course if you are a science
major or engineer is because it introduces you to one of the fundamental theories
that govern all of the modern technological world. The material you learn in
this course will probably seem pointless to you, as there are very few actually
practical real-life applications, but in order to truly understand how anything
involving electricity works, you need to know this stuff.
Although the Coulomb Force law looks a lot like the Gravitational Law from
Mechanics, the charges behave differently than people, or many olmasses, for the
most part. There are certain explicitly defined rules in electromagnetism that
make charges and things a lot easier to predict, relative to people. Furthermore,
we know that the electrostatic field is always conservative. Thats not true for
many instances in real life; for example, there will always be air friction, etc.
Thus, you can simplify many-a-nasty integrals by knowing that any path from
A to B will be equal. Electricity and Magnetism is thus an easier course than
Mechanics, in my opinion. But, its more from this, than from what I said before:
if you know your mathematics, then the answers you want are practically given
to you via Maxwells Equations (below). If not, then this book will hopefully
beef up your (relevant) math skills so that, you, too, can ace EM without much
work.
For example, an ideal test charge Q isolated within its own universe will
~ = 1 Q2 r. This will always be the case. Even if it
produce an electric field of E
40 r
is Tuesday.
The laws of electromagnetism strictly define the behavior of charges. Thus,
unlike certain other branches of physics, electromagnetism is completely deterministic. In the ideal world of textbook (and exam) problems, the 2 (of 4 total)
Maxwell equations summarize the life of every single electrostatic charge in the
universe:
~ = and E
~ =0
E
0
The above are the relevant Maxwells equations for electrostatics - the state of

14
non-moving charges. Its also the state most first year undergraduate Electricity
and Magnetism course starts at.
The first equation states that the source of the field is in the charge. Rho is
the charge distribution.
The second equation states that the electrostatic field is conservative. There is
no such thing as electrostatic friction. Thus, when you calculate the work done
to get from point A to point B, you get the same answer no matter that path you
choose (if you set up the line integral right!). Also, because the Electrostatic field
is conservative, E = V , i.e., the Electric field can be defined as the negative
gradient of a potential. This will come in very handy when youre asked to find
electric potentials, especially when youre given the electric field.
If you know the Divergence Theorem (in the Math section), you can transform
the first equation into integral
form like this:
RRR
RR
~ You know that E
~
~ da
~ = =
Divergence Thrm:
( E)dV
=
E
0
RR

~
~ da
E
dV

~ in the Divergence Thrm.

You get the last part by solving for E
~ as youre seeking an integral form, and
You can now leave out the E,
thats the differential form. And, you can multiply the dV on the
denominator
RR
dV
~
~ da
to simplify things on the right hand side. Thus, you get: 0 =
E
charge
Now, Ill review the precise meaning of . It is defined as the unitvolume
= Vq .
q
Then, q = dV Thus, you can simplify the right hand side into: 0 The end result
is this:
~ = q
~ da
E
(3.1)
0
You now have Gauss Law in integral form. This is where all the fun shall
begin...
Z Z

Chapter 4
Electrostatics
4.1

Gauss Law
I

~ d~a = qin
E
0

(4.1)

Equation 4.1 is Gauss Law in integral form 1 . The left side of the equation is
a scalar/dot product of two vectors; it corresponds to the scalar on the right side.
~ dotted with an area
In words, it reads: The closed integral of the electric field E
element d~a (Electric Flux) is equal to the charge enclosed within (i.e.,inside)
the area element divided by the permittivity of free space: 0
By closed integral, I mean the surface should trap the charge in question
~
within itself; it should not have a hole. Because the left side is a dot product, E
~ is nonzero. (This relationship will always hold in
would be nonzero only where da
context of this Gauss Law equation, but it might not always work in other cases!)
The right side of the equation is the net charge enclosed within the area element
on the left side. In a sense, its kind of like a body-count. You can see the left
side as a warehouse-surface enclosing a quantum 2 amount of hostages. Oh, the
warehouse walls emanate a totally tell-tale Electric field. Youre actually some
FBI agent trying to negotiate with these criminals who dunno Electrostatics.
They claim that they have twenty qs in there, but from the left side of the
equation, the surface of the warehouse, you easily see that theyre bluffing. Their
going-rate is $1,000,000/person - er charge. You scream at the top of your lungs
on your loudspeakers that theyre obviously bluffing (and electro-illiterate). They
only have 5 people - er, charges - in there, thus you will only pay a ransom of
1

Maxwells Equations was stated previously terms of dels, which is the differential form.
This integral form can be derived by using the Divergence Theorem.
2
quantum refering to an integer amount... were not going to be too gruesome as to assume
the warehouse contains fractional amounts of people. Also, the quantum requirements is interesting because real charge is always quantized... the continuous distribution questions are thus
really only approximations. They arent as precise and godly as the mathematics might
imply.

4.1 Gauss Law

16

$5,000,000. You just saved $15,000,000. Wow! Of course, real warehouses are
~ at least not yet. And then, real
not as convenient as Gaussian surfaces (da),
FBI agents would probably blast their way in with machine guns or napalms or
bazookas or teleportation devices and end up not paying anything...
If youre pissed that Im teaching you Gauss Law when your course is only
on continuous charge distributions, all I can say is bare with me... you just
might find Gauss slacker methods helpful in, at the very least, checking some of
your messy continuous charge things...
Gauss was probably one of the coolest slackers. This particular law of his
makes finding the Electric field of a sphere (anything with certain symmetery you
shall see quite soon), even those plastered with non-uniform charge distribution,
grotesquely easy. But, before I show you that, Ill begin with its most fundamental
application:

4.1.1

Illumination from a Point Charge

~ a distance r away from a point

Example: Finding the Electric Field E
charge q.
Problem: Suppose you have a point charge q located out in the middle of
nowhere (like, really, its a vacuum, total free space, so you can use 0 ). For
~ field at a distance r away from a
whatever reason, you need to find the E
point charge.
Answer: You can do this two ways. You can get this directly from
q
r
~ =
) or...
the most basic form of Coulombs law. (to wit: E
40 r 2
q
2
~
You can get this from Gauss Law, like so: E (4r
r) = 0
The area element in this case would be the surface area of the sphere. This
is so because of the nature of the field lines. Like in the divergence diagrams
given in the Math-Nutshell chapter, the Electric field of this point charge
has great divergence. Its been pre-determined that Electric field lines begin
in positive charges and end in negative charges.
Because there is no negative charge in sight from here until infinity (or the
end of our lil vacuum space), it looks like the field lines from q will have
no curl, but a huge divergence (its like light streaming out from the sun or
some dominant luminous entity) due to the fact that its original source (to
wit: q) is clearly identified.
The divergence will be only in the radial direction, as the change in field
intensity will be constant in all the other directions. The Electric field is
therefore zero in the other directions.
The radial direction is the one that is always perpendicular to the area
of the sphere that encloses the charge. Define the direction of the area

4.1 Gauss Law

17

element as the radial direction (think of it like this: for any infinitesimally
tiny patch on the sphere, the vector that is perpendicular to the surface
will always be pointing radially away).
Thus, the equation above reduces to this scalar: E(4r2 ) =

q
0

From this scalar equation, we can solve for E, and we get E =

.
q
40 r2

~ by retracing our steps. We

We can direction-ize E, transforming it into E,
~
defined da to be nonzero in only the radial direction/component, therefore
E is consequently zero in all other components (multiply the dot product
~ = qr 2
out!). Thus E
40 r
So, from the example above, we have a basic heuristic for solving Gauss Law
problems. And... Its hella titeXD
~ that are in
~ contains only the components of E
~ dot da
~ and da
To recap: E
the same direction. The direction of the area element is thus taken as always
perpendicular to the actual surface. The surface element must enclose all of the
charge indicated on the right side of the equation. Once youve plugged in the
right values, you can solve for E. In general, it is good to always set up your
equation in the same format as Equation 4.1.

4.1.2

Multiple Charges and Electric Flux!

Further clarification: Suppose we have four charges, q1, q2, q3, and q4. This
time, were seeking the Electric
flux in the region, that is: the fluxuation of the
H
~
~
electric field lines ( = E da). So, formally, the problem goes like: Find the
electric flux in a sphere that spans all space of these four charges. Assume theyre
all in vacuum.
The
first thing to do is to state Gauss Law in its most general form:
H
~ = qin (in general)
~
E da
0
Then, you think a bit about what each of the variables above mean:
In this case, the charge enclosed would be all four of the charges. This is so
because the Gaussian surface spans all of space (at least relative to this particular
region). Therefore, there is no danger of leaving any one charge out! Because
we only need to find the electric flux, we can worry about just one side of the
equation and forget the rest. In this case, were too lazy to figure out the Electric
field, thus
well just do the right hand side.
H
3 +q4
~
= E1 (r2r) = q1 +q2+q
0
3 +q4
Thus = q1 +q2+q
and thats the answer!
0

4.1.3

Sphere 0: Uniformly Distributed Surface Charge

We shall now begin the Trilogy of the Spheres. This is the Prologue. Like many
good fantasy trilogies, you have to read this to get the rest. So... Read this

4.1 Gauss Law

18

sub-section!
In another tone, the purpose of Gauss Law is to escape the nasty integrals of
the continuous-charge distribution questions. This example should prove it (at
least for one case):
Suppose charge q is uniformly distributed on the surface of a sphere of radius
q
R. (You can define = 4R
2 as the surface charge density.) Find the Electric
field everywhere.
The left hand side of Gauss Law is trivial. Its just E(4r2 ) (look at the
interactive diagram for divergence available at http://slacker.yosunism.com - remember, the Electric field has extreme divergence from the center of the sphere,
thus the field is going in the same direction as the radius, always... so, we have
only the Er component multiplied by the dAr comp.) The other components
cancel because the field is only in the radial direction, thus and dont matter. But then, if you define the vector area to be in the direction that is always
normal to the surface, then there wouldnt be the other two components in the
first place.
The right hand side isnt so bad, either. Its just that you have to realize that
the field inside and the field outside will be different.
Inside the sphere (r < R), there is NO charge. Thus qin = 0. And, according
to Gauss Law, the field is thus 0 inside.
Outside, the problem reduces to that of a point charge. You have just /q 0
on the right hand sand. ... I think you can take it from here. (If not, read the
previous section on Gauss Law.)

4.1.4

Sphere 1:
Charge

Non-uniformly Distributed Surface

Suppose there is a wacky non-uniformly plastered charge distribution = 3b2 ,

where b is a function of and . This is stuck onto the surface of a sphere of
radius R. Find the electric field everywhere. You may express charge in terms of
an integral.
The left hand side of Gauss Law is trivial. Its just E(4r2 ) (remember, the
Electric field has extreme divergence from the center of the sphere, thus the field
is going in the same direction as the radius, always... so, we have only the Er
component multiplied by the dAr comp.) The other components cancel because
the field is only in the radial direction, thus and dont matter, as. But then,
if you define the vector area to be in the direction that is always normal to the
surface, then there wouldnt be the other two components in the first place.
Inside (r R), its 0, as there is charge only on the surface. No charge
enclosed always means the electric field is zero whenever Gauss Law is involved.
Outside: To solve for the right hand side, youll need to think in terms of
q.

4.1 Gauss Law

19

q=

Z2 Z

3b2 R2 sin dd

(4.2)

0 0

This relationship works because the surface charge density is defined as

charge
. Thus, you can solve for charge (in order to plug it into Gauss Law).
surf acearea
(Note that Ive used the standard spherical surface element R2 (see the Math
section if you want to know how I got these), where R is constant in this case, as
it is on the surface of the sphere, where r = R exactly.)
R R2
2

3b2 r2 sin dd

0 0

You plug this into Gauss Law: E(4r ) =

0
You solve for E. Its still in the radial direction. Dont worry about the
fact that theta and phi are involved. The dot product will come out 0 for the
components other than the radial one, anyway. But then, if you had that worry,
you still dont understand the concept of vector area - its only the Gaussian
surface you have to worry about, and that stays the same for all these sphere
questions. The wacky charge distribution can really go to h - e - double hockey
sticks, for all that matters here.

4.1.5

Sphere 2: Uniformly Distributed Volume Charge

Sphere of radius R. Uniformly distributed volume charge density. Total charge is

~ everywhere.
q. Find E
The left side of Gauss Law is trivial. Its just E(4r2 ) (remember, the Electric
field has extreme divergence from the center of the sphere, thus the field is going
in the same direction as the radius, always... so, we have only the Er component
multiplied by the dAr comp.) The other components cancel because the field is
only in the radial direction, thus and dont matter, as. But then, if you define
the vector area to be in the direction that is always normal to the surface, then
there wouldnt be the other two components in the first place.
For outside the sphere, the right side is trivial. The field reduces to that of a
point charge.
For inside the sphere, its a bit different...
The right side can be done with some stoiciometry:
We want to find qin given a uniform distribution.
Uniform distribution means the density is always constant: Thus
qin
4
r3
3

q
4
R3
3

(4.3)

The RIGHT side (in this case) is the density of total charge over total volume.
The left side is the density of the charge inclosed by the particular volume. Here,
r R. Youll see that at r = R, the answer is the same as that for r > R.

4.1 Gauss Law

20

You solve for qin in the equation there, and you plug it into Gauss Law:
3
q
r
E(4r2 ) = q0 Rr 3 for r R, then E = 4
3 . You want a direction for E? Well,
0 R
that should be trivial by now. Its in the radial direction, so stick on a r if it
makes u feel better.

4.1.6

Sphere 3:
Charge

Non-uniformly Distributed Volume

Sphere of radius R with non-uniform volume charge density = r7 . where

is some constant. Find the electric field everywhere in terms of , r, and the
fundamental constants.
You should be pretty used to this by now. Anyway, here goes:
Rr

Inside: q = r7 r2 sin drdd note that its 0 to r, where r can be any radius
0

number less than R. This is to indicate the volume within, of course.

RR

Outside: q = r7 r2 sin drdd

0

And, the rest is just plugging it into Gauss law. I have used spherical coordinates in this case, hence why there are r2 sin along with the differentials.

4.1.7

Cylinders!

If youre getting sick of spheres or getting way too excited over passing spherical
Gaussian surfaces, I have
a treat for you!
H
~
Recall Gauss Law: E d~a = qin0
Then, visualize an infinitely long cylinder in your minds eye. Imagine that
the charge which produces the electric field has been stretched so as to be
perfectly parallel to the cylinders longitudinal axis. Moreover, imagine that the
charge is concentrated at the exact center of the cylinder. Something like this:

The field would be radial all the time. It would have no other components.
Therefore, the surface element d~a must have a radial component... As we know
the field is obviously not zero.

4.1 Gauss Law

21

Recall the forumla for area: length width Recall the formula for the surface
area of a cylinder: 2rl where 2r is the width (or actually, the circumference
of the circle - this is actually what you get when you make a cylinder out of any
flat piece of paper) and l is the length.
Thus: d~a = 2rrl
Taking the dot product of the left side, you get E(2rl)
The right side will vary depending on whether you have uniformly-distributed
surface charges, non-uniformly distributed surface charges, uniformly-distributed
volume charges, and non-uniformly distributed volume charges. The method for
chugging out the results for all those is similar to that for the Sphere Trilogy. Ill
outline the few differences, you fill in the blanks from refering to the epic story
of the Sphere Trilogy a few pages ago.
For all these, assume the sphere is of radius R.
If the cylinder has non-uniformly distributed surface charge = b3 , where b
might be some wacky function of and l (height): This is how you find the
charge inside. For outside, change the limit r to R.
qin =

Z Z

b dA =

Zr

b3 rdrd

(4.4)

where I have used the cylindrical area element.

charge
Recall
If the cylinder has q uniformly distributed over its volume: = volume
that volume = base height
Thus:
qin
q
= 2 =
(4.5)
r l
R2 l
Solve for qin and plug.
If the cylinder has non-uniformly distributed volume charge = 3 , where
might be a crazy function of anything. Find the Field produced by a segment of
length/height h. This is how you find the charge inside. For outside, change the
limit r to R.
qin =

Z Z Z

dV =

Zh Z2 Zr

3 rdrddl

(4.6)

0 0 0

where I have used the cylindrical area element. Do the usual, and plug in qin

4.1.8

A Plain OlInfinite Plane

It goes on and on forever... Also, its infinitely thin.

The Gaussian surface can therefore be just two pieces of flat paper. Their
specific area is usually belittled by the mere mention of A. Well do that here,
too.
H
~ d~a = qin
Recall Gauss Law: E
0

4.2 Too Lazy to Read All That About Gauss Law

22

The dot product of the left side goes like: |E(above)A|+|E(below)A| = 2|E|A
(remember that A is the surface element perpendicular to the surface area, so its
just the normal to the plane. And, were taking the absolute value here, so its
additive rather than zero, as E will inevitably point in opposite directions above
and below.)
Now, this problem has some intimate ties with direction. For example, the
field will likely have a different value above and below the plane. Why? Well,
the normal vector (i.e., the direction of the area element) will vary above and
below. This also makes sense because, again, the field would originate from the
charge. (The vector would start pointing away out into vertical infinity from the
surface of the horizontal plane.) And the charge will have to be plastered either
uniformly or non-uniformly over the plane surface. (The latter case is extremely
unlikely to be a test prob, for now.) Thus, the only original source of the electric
field would be from the plane, hence its field direction vectors origin there.
The right hand side is just qin0 , where qin varies depending on yoru charge
distribution. The methods are similar. If you ever need to integrate, you can just
use Cartesian, which is natural for planes.

4.1.9

Conductors and Insulators

In electrostatics, charge in a conductor would be found only on the surface. Thus,

the only volume charge densities that are possible must be insulators. Insulators
dont conduct; theyre the opposite of conductors. Therefore, they cant carry
the charge around; thus, once you put a charge there, it pretty much stays there.
Thats why there are non-uniform volume densities in electrostatics, in the first
place. Thats basically it. You might have a quiz/test question that attempts to
trick you (and scare you) by saying, for example, Find the field inside a spherical
conductor of radius R, plastered on the surface with total charge q. Of course,
thats just finding the field inside the surface-charge density problem; there is no
charge inside: the field inside is zero. The field outside reduces to that of a point
charge.
Anyway, in this case, you should be able to translate easily between the
qualitative and quantitative descriptions. Example: Qualitative Description of
spherical insulator with nonuniform charge means the quantitative non-uniform
volume charge density.

4.2

Too Lazy to Read All That About Gauss

Law

Gauss Law in integral form is:

I

~ d~a = qin
E
0

(4.7)

4.3 Continuous Charge Distributions

23

Thats all there is to it. But, if you dont know vector calculus very well, applying
it might be another thing.
Heres the lowdown on application:
Determine the origin/source of the field. Thats usually in a charge distribution of some sort. Remember the fact that the electric field diverges
positively from any positive charge. Because you know about dot products
from the math section of this lil olbook, you can easily ignore the other
~ that are not in the same direction as
components of the area element (da)
the field. (To wit: otherwise, the Gauss Law equation would not hold)
Take the area element thats normal to the Gaussian surface (also repre~
sented by da).
The Gaussian surface should be perfectly symmetrical to
the charge distribution.
Find the amount of charge enclosed.
Plug it all into the equation above. Solve for E. Find the direction of E by
thinking a bit about where it came from.
And, if youre still confused, check out the previous section. Gauss Law is
one of those things that becomes more clear by examples, for most ppl.

4.3

Continuous Charge Distributions

These are actually pretty easy if you remember your calculus. Anyway, the trick
is this:
Always remember your dear Coulombs Law. To wit: E =

q
.
40 r 2

Know that dq = dl = da = dV . where = charge

and =
length
charge
= volume where all denominators are unit versions.

charge
area

and

Know your spherical/cylindrical coordinate dV and das.

All of the results to be shown below can be verified with Gauss Law. (They
usually do it the other way, i.e., tell you to verify your Gauss Law results with
the equivalent but way more formidable and quite nasty continuous charge distribution calculations)

4.3 Continuous Charge Distributions

4.3.1

24

The Skinny Line Charges

Find the electric field a distance z above the midpoint of a straight line segment
of length 2L, which carries a uniform line charge .

If you break this up into x and z components, youll find that the x component
cancels. (Theyre going in opposite directions.) Therefore, only the z component
is nonzero. The electric field is thus only in the z direction.
1 dx
cos
z
(4.8)
40 rs 2
(The denominator rs2 should be a script r, indicating the shortest Euclidean
distance from the charge segment on the x axis to the arbitrary point P on the z
axis, but i cant seem to TeX that.)
Note that q = dx, therefore this takes the form of Coulombs Law. There is
a 2 in front of this to indicate that the z component is additive. That is, you add
the z component of the arrows on the left and right.
cos is actually the projection of the field onto the z axis. Because of the way
we have the integral set up, this projection is necessary to indicate the nature of
the electric field, which does not cancel only in the z component.
~ =2
dE

4.4 Potential

cos =

25

z
, wherers = z 2 + x2
rs

Thus, cos =

from the Pythagorean Thrm.

(4.9)

z
:
z 2 +x2

L
1 Z
2zdx
1. E =
2
40 (z + x2 )3/2

(4.10)

2.
3.

x
2z

=
2
40 z z 2 + z 2
1
2L

=
40 z z 2 + L2
1. Plugging everything back into the first equation.
2. Factoring out the constants and integrating.
3. Plugging in the limits and simplifying.

(4.11)
(4.12)
(4.13)
(4.14)
(4.15)

~ =
This aims in the z direction. Thus, in vector form, it would be just: E
1
2L z

40 z z 2 +L2

Thats basically all there is to continuous distributions. To do others, you just

plug in different things for q and rs . Find a suitable set of integration parameters,
and its all good!

4.4

Potential

sdfdfssd sdfsdf

Chapter 5
The Magnetism Introduction
Magnetism is about moving charges. The basic problem in Magnetism is to solve
problems involving moving charges.
Electricity was just about plain olcharges, not necessarily in motion. Any
charge produces an electric field that effects the other charges in the set. But,
the trick is magnetic fields exert forces on moving charges, and nothing else. (And
it looks like moving charges produce magnetic fields.)
But... Waiiiiitt a sec! What about magnets, like that prize-winning collection
sticking onto my refridgerator (outside)? They dont seem to be moving... Furthermore, they dont even seem to be charges like whenever I play with them
too much, my hair doesnt turn into a decent Afro. They probably contain some
sort of magnetic field, as their stickin-force seems to decrease the further away I
put two of em together...
Good question. Your prize-winninge fridge magnet set actually contains magnetic fields on the microscopic atomic scale. There are tiny electrons flowing in
a certain direction, each producing a magnetic field purely due to their motion.
The field each produces all-together does not cancel out on the macroscopic scale,
thus manifesting a magnetic field. The teeny tiny fields are thus all aligned in
the same direction, thus magnetizing the matter.
For that matter, your prize-winning residue on the inside of your fridge probably also contains fields on the atomic level, but they probably all cancel out, by
moving in some wantonly random directions, so as to not stick to each other in
any other way except due to sheer non-field based stickiness. (Like most other
sticky things. Take that annoying piece of gum sticking to your shoe.)
So, what I should have said was this: All moving charges produce magnetic
fields, but because (most) things you can see without the aid of some hardcore
microscope are all composed of multiple moving charges, they might not be magnetic overall because their charges might be moving in totally random directions,
thus canceling out the fields on the wee bit teeny atomic level, way before you
can see its overall macroscopic effects.
Thats what Magnetism is about. Just nomad charges who dont like staying

27
in one place for too long. Well stalk them...
Well start with something they call Magnetostatics next. (Statics? But.. I
thought charges had to move to create magnetic fields...) Youll see, soon enough.
If you did badly in the first part of your E and M course, have no fear!
Magnetism will be your redemption, basically because itll help beef you up for
the final - many of the calculations and stuff in Magnetism parallel the stuff done
in Electricity. This is your chance for fighting an enemy (magnetism)
whose every move youve seen before (in electricity)! Dont let the
curve kill you, again. Instead, try killing the curve for a decent revenge.
XD
If you did well in the first part of your E and M course, this second part will
be like that special grape-flavored dashed with orange icing on the cake. Itll be
sw33t!

Chapter 6
Magnetostatics
If you read the Intro to Magnetism, Magnetostatics might seem like a totally
bogus word. The only things that produce magnetic fields are moving charges, so
how can there be such a state as magneto-statics, which translates literally into
non-moving magnetism. ... Which seems to contradict itself.
Magnetostatics really refers to the state of currents that do not vary over
time. (So, the statics is with respect to time.) These currents have electric fields
that cancel out on a macroscopic level, because there is an approximately equal
amount of negative and positive charges. Furthermore, these currents are all
bound to the specific current line, and there are no free charges.

6.1
6.1.1

The Right Hand Rule

For Currents

Suppose theres an infinitely long current right in front of you, coming out of
the ground, and going off into infinite space. The current is moving up towards
the depths of the heavens. If you were to try to clasp onto it with your right
hand. (Suppose youre omnipotent, and you dont get electrocuted, and youre
still alive.) Now, your thumb is aligned (upwards) in the same direction as the
current. Your fingers are curled around it. Thats the only way you can clasp
onto an infinite line current.
Your fingers are curled in the direction of the magnetic field, while your thumb
points in the direction of the current. This is the Right Hand Rule for currents,
and its quite handy for determining the field direction for as long as you keep
your right hand.
Dont you just love these idealized situations?
Now, this just might be a sign of obscentity in some eastern European hamlet,
so dont go around waving at people with the right hand rule for currents when
you visit Europe... (cf. One side of the peace sign is the finger in the UK)

6.1 The Right Hand Rule

6.1.2

29

For the Hermit Charge

Suppose the loner electron (or lone electron, if youre the chemmy type) is zooming rightwards through a region with a uniform magnetic field pointing in the
direction coming out of the page, towards you.
Now electrons are the negative type of loners, so their charge value is negative.
The general force for such loner electrons goes like:
~
F~ = q~v B

(6.1)

Look at that short and lovely life line on the palm of the first figure in the
diagram. The heart line is relatively stable, while the head lines points towards
the life line. This is definitely the palm of a physicist. Your right hand stars in
both pictures.
Let your fingers point in the direction of the velocity of the charge, then
move your fingers by orienting them in the direction of the magnetic field.
If you have a negative charge, the direction will be in the OPPOSITE direction
of your thumb.
Contrast the difference, when you have a positive charge. (The force just goes

6.2 Amperes Law:

The Gauss Law of Magnetism

30

in the same direction as your thumb)

~
F~ = q~v B

(6.2)

Check out the Right Hand Rule Interactive Animation on the website.
http://emslacker.yosunism.com
Meanwhile, heres a static diagram in general for a positive charge. Note that
the force points towards the center, as in centripetal motion:

6.2

Amperes Law:
The Gauss Law of Magnetism
~ = 0 Iin
~ dl
B

(6.3)

Thats Amperes Law. Its good for currents that are constant with respect
~ refers to the
to time. And, if you get vectors, theres really nothing to it. B
~ refers to the Amperian path around the current. Note that dl
magnetic field. dl
is used differently than used in the Biot-Savert Law.
The Amperian path, like its Gaussian surface analog for Electricity, is always
symmetrical to the thing producing it.
For example:

6.2 Amperes Law:

The Gauss Law of Magnetism

6.2.1

31

That Proverbial Infinite Line of Current

Recall the right hand rule for infinite current lines. You grab onto it by pointing
your thumb in the direction of current flow, and hooking your (non-thumb) fingers
over in their natural position after the thumbs been set. Your fingers curl in the
direction of the magnetic field.
This direction is also the direction of the Amperian path. The direction of
the Amperian path will determine the direction of the magnetic field. This goes
by the same reasoning I put up for Gauss Law. Because the left side of the
equation involves a dot product, you know that all other components except the
one that is in the direction of both dot product vectors should be zero. (Dont
confuse yourself by looking into this problem in a way thats too philosophically
profound here. Its really just the equation that you should be worried about.)
The right hand side involves a scalar current value multiplied by the constant
of permeability for free space.
So, heres the problem, as stated formally:
Find the magnetic field of an infinite line current I.
OK, so from the stuff above, we know the direction of the magnetic field. (To
wit: use the Right Hand Rule for Currents)
Because the current is cylindrical in the same way that an infinitely long thin
soup can would be, the natural Amperian path that goes in approximately the
same direction as your fingers would be a circle. The length of this Amperian
path is 2r, which is the same as the circumference of a circle. The field is
pointing in the direction, where goes from 0 to 2.

~ = 0 Iin
~ dl
Recall Amperes Law: B
~ 2r Dot them together, and you get
So, on the left hand side, you get: B
B(2r)
On the right hand side, you just get the default: 0 I
~ = 0 I
You then solve for B. You get: B
2r

6.2 Amperes Law:

The Gauss Law of Magnetism

6.2.2

32

Current Distributions

I
Theres the volume current distribution: J A
I
And then theres also the surface current distribution: K l
Notice that Ive placed a subscript by both the Area and the length. This
means that I want the area component that is perpendicular to the flow. Check
out the pic:

6.2.3

The Fat Arse Infinite Line Current

Just like how evil professors can make you do evil integrals to find the charge
enclosed for Gauss Law, they can do the same for currents in Amperes Law.
Like in Gauss Law, the left hand side is dependent only on the geometry of the
system. Thus, no matter what wacky current distribution you have, as long as
its along a right cylindrical wire, the left hand side will be the same as that
shown above.
Given a volume current distribution, the right hand side can be determined
by:
I=

Jda

(6.4)

where da is the area perpendicular to the current flow.

Similarly, given a surface current distribution, the right hand side can be
determined by:
I=

Kdl

(6.5)

where dl is the length perpendicular to the current flow.

~ everywhere produced by
Anyway, heres a sample problem: Find the B
a volume current density J = kr distributed in an infinitely long thick
arse wire of radius R.

6.2 Amperes Law:

The Gauss Law of Magnetism

33

For r < R, that is, within the thick arse wire, we can start with the right
hand side: I =

Rr 2
R
0 0

kr(rddr) = k r3 2

Note the usage of polar coordinates, which is appropriate for integrating cross
sections involving circles.
You use what we found above for the left hand side for Amperes law: B(2r)
Then, you set it equal to each other according to Amperes law: B(2r) =
3
0 k r3 2
2
Then, you solve for B... You get: B = 0 k r3 The current is going in the
z direction in cylindrical coordinates, or in other words, away from you. Thus,
your magnetic field would be in the direction.
For r > R, that is outside the thick arse wire, we can start with the right
hand side, again: I =

RR 2
R
0 0

kr(rddr) = k R3 2

Note that the top limit ends at the radius of the circle, basically because
the problem defines current to be flowing only within this infinitely long right
cylindrical thing.
You use what we found above for the left hand side for Amperes law: B(2r)
Then, you set it equal to each other according to Amperes law: B(2r) =
3
0 k R3 2
3
Then, you solve for B... You get: B = 0 k R3r The current is going in the
z direction in cylindrical coordinates, or in other words, away from you. Thus,
your magnetic field would be in the direction.
Heres another problem: Same thing as above, except with uniform volume
current. Total current is I. Radius is R.
The field on the outside is trivial; its the same as that for a thin wire.
The field on the inside can be done in pretty much the same way we found
that for uniform volume charges back in Electricity:
Iin
I
We use a bit of dimensional analysis, and we get: r
2 = R2 = J Solve for
2
Iin , and ta-da, plug into Amperes law, and you get this: B = 0 I R2r ;

Appendix A
Appendix 1
A.1

Components:
Breaking Up the Multidimensional

Components may seem imposing, but thats only if you let them be. They let
you shatter seemingly complex two or three dimensional problems into some one
dimensional common sense. In a way, components are actually like the x and y
coordinates, you have when, for example, you plot (4, 6). Its actually something
youve seen a gazillion times before disguised in a seemingly scary form.
If you dont understand components, thats probably because you dont quite
get the trig. Thus, this section will start with the trig.
If you can solve the following problem fairly easily and are reasonably good
with basic inclined plane problems, then you should skip this whole component,
er, section.
Suppose plane A were inclined at an angle of from the absolutely flat ground.
Then, suppose that plane B were inclined at an angle of on or with respect
to plane A. In other words, the two planes form alternate interior angles, and
theyre flat with respect to the same ground. Plane B is growing out of plane
A; the side of the triangle denoting plane B has one angle and another right
angle (90 degrees). Given the fact that the hypotenuse of the triangle formed
by plane B is h, find the horizontal and vertical components with respect to the
variables h, and . The format of this question should remind you of an old
friend from mechanics...
The answer to this problem, along with a nifty diagram is available later in
this section. In order to skip it without fear that youll miss too much, you need
to solve this problem correctly... NOW. Otherwise, my dear reader, please read
on and ignore this problem until the right time comes.

A.1 Components:
Breaking Up the Multidimensional

A.1.1

35

Conquering the Trig

To begin mathematics, mathematicians had to define things. Thats more or less

why the three basic trig ratios (sin, cos, and tan) are known as what they are.

sin

opposite
hypothenuse

(A.1)

cos

adjacent
hypothenuse

(A.2)

opposite
adjacent

(A.3)

tan

The opposite side, in this case, would be the vertical side. The adjacent side,
in this case, would be the horizontal side. The opposite/adjacent demarcations
are with respect to the angle alpha ().
But, you have to note something weird here. If I were to have as the angle,
the following would be true: The opposite side would be the horizontal side,
while the adjacent the vertical side. Why? The side that is adjacent (touching)
to the angle beta () is the vertical side, and so on. Thus, it is important that
you remember the general rules defined above, rather than assuming that cosines
always involve the horizontal divided by the hypothenuse.
You can remember this by the nifty mneumonics to follow:
When asked whether he would repent his sins, Galileo tried to avoid answering the question via the following historic quote: OH, SIN.... AHCOS
.... TAN Ohh.. Ahh.. (where the O in OH stands for Opposite, while the
H stands for Hypotenuse, etc.)
With every HYPe, theres an OP for SIN, COS of an AD potraying OPportunities and ADventures with some crazy TAN people.
Theres always the old SOA-CAH-TOA, if you like that one better.

A.1 Components:
Breaking Up the Multidimensional

A.1.2

36

Facing the Components

In a way, components are actually like the x and y coordinates, you have
when, for example, you plot (3, 4). The x component is 3, while the y component
is 4. You would get a triangle if you were to draw a straight line from the origin
to the point, letting the x and yaxes become the other two sides. You would use
the Pythagorean Theorem h = a2 + b2 to find the length of the slanted part of
the triangle.
In this case, the length of the slanted part - or the hypotenuse - would be
h = 32 + 42 = 5
Now that you know the hypothenuse, you can easily find the components in
terms of the angle .
Recall the definition for sin and cos from the previous page.
opposite
adjacent
and cos hypothenuse
sin hypothenuse
Relative to the diagram above, sin and cos can be represented as:
sin = hy and cos = hx
To solve for y or x, you would just multiply both sides by h:
y = h sin and x = h cos
You can solve for alpha by pluging in the x and y and h values for this
particular point:
4 = 5 sin = arcsin 4/5 and3 = 5 cos = arccos 3/5
Thus, alpha is approximately 53.13 degrees, if you type in the expression
above into your calculator.
This is basically all there is breaking up a multidimensional thing into components. You have to do it with respect to the right angle and hypothenuse. This
can be done in three dimensions, too, but there will likely be more than one angle
youll have to plug into the sins and coss.

A.1.3

Components on Inclined Planes

Heres that problem I promised to solve earlier:

A.1 Components:
Breaking Up the Multidimensional

37

To requote:
Suppose plane A were inclined at an angle of from the absolutely flat ground.
Then, suppose that plane B were inclined at an angle of on or with respect
to plane A. In other words, the two planes form alternate interior angles, and
theyre flat with respect to the same ground. Plane B is growing out of plane
A; the side of the triangle denoting plane B has one angle and another right
angle (90 degrees). Given the fact that the hypotenuse of the triangle formed
by plane B is h, find its horizontal and vertical components with respect to the
variables h, and . The format of this question should remind you of an old
friend from mechanics...
We know that that that particular angle on the other triangle is also because
alternate internal angles are equal (geometry)... And, we know theyre both right
triangles. Thus, = 90
Now, we apply our trig rules. the horizontal (parallel to hypothenuse of
black triangle) part of triangle B (the red one) would be h sin , while the vertical
part (normal to hypothenuse of black triangle) would be h cos .
Youve just flipped over your coordinate system to be inclined-plane friendly.
Your normal force and your frictional force are now naturally represented! Well,
were assuming the force is applied along the hypothenuse of the red triangle...